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NEA head William Magwood and Bulgarian energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova have discussed a regional initiative for nuclear progress. Photo courtesy NEA. Bulgaria’s application to join the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency has been approved by all members of the agency and is now to be reviewed by the OECD governing council, the Bulgarian energy ministry said in a statement.

The Bulgarian government approved the country’s membership bid in late 2019, the statement said.

Earlier this week, Bulgarian energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova discussed in a telephone call with William Magwood, the NEA’s director-general, a project to establish a regional initiative for “nuclear progress” in the framework of the agency.

The ministry said the project will aim to bring together countries from Central and Eastern Europe interested in the development of nuclear power for civilian use.

The project would focus on four priorities: analysis and development of long-term energy reliability; radioactive waste management; communication with the public; and development of infrastructure and education for innovation.

Bulgaria has two nuclear units in commercial operation, Kozloduy-5 and -6, both 963-MW pressurised water reactors of the Russian VVER/V-320 design.

Those provided 37% of the country’s electricity in 2019, according to data by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Date: Saturday, 20 June 2020
Original article: nucnet.org/news/nea-members-approve-membership-minister-discusses-nuclear-progress-initiative-6-5-2020